Oil & Fuel Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel

[klancf51]

I wrote an article about fuel considerations for high-pressure common rail direct injection diesel engines on LinkedIn. It was written around our 2017 Case IH Farmall, but generally applies to most modern diesel engines. Owners need to be knowledgeable about fuel for these engines: carelessness can be costly in the near or long term. Sharing this out to the broader forum. Good luck.

 

[TractorNH]

The reasons in your article are the reasons my dealer told me to always use a diesel additive. I've used the Power Service one and now use the Howe's one but both are similar and seem to work well.

 

[RalphVa]

You could also put in a quart of ATF about every 20 gallons.

Ralph

 

[Redlands Okie]

How does that ATF react to the EPA smog pollution devices.

 

[klancf51]

You could also put in a quart of ATF about every 20 gallons.

Ralph

We are discussing modern (2007 and newer) high-pressure common rail direct injection diesel engines here. I would NOT recommend using ATF as a ULSD fuel additive: there is no evidence that it is ULSD-compatible. As such, it may actually damage certain newer emissions systems. This is the sort of advice that can really cause trouble. Unless you are absolutely certain ATF is an additive recommended by an engine manufacturer, you should delete or change your post. Additionally, based on my research, I suspect that it contributes very little to the fuel lubricity.

 

[klancf51]

How does that ATF react to the EPA smog pollution devices.

Good question. The answer is: adding ATF to ULSD could actually damage modern diesel emissions components. The post recommending ATF as a ULSD additive should be deleted.

 

[klancf51]

The reasons in your article are the reasons my dealer told me to always use a diesel additive. I've used the Power Service one and now use the Howe's one but both are similar and seem to work well.

I've looked into this a lot. The fuel producers (e.g. Gulf Oil) test their products at their terminals. My best advice is try to find a ULSD retailer who can obtain the terminal Distillate Fuel Laboratory Report and the HFRR test result. From this you can determine precisely which additive best and most economically addresses your needs for lubricity, cetane, emulsification/emulsification, pour point, etc. You may find you don't really need an additive.

However, if I had to choose an additive without the benefit of a Distillate Fuel Laboratory Report or HFRR test, I would select Opti-Lube XPD. Based on my research, it's clearly the best ULSD additive for my European diesel engine.

 

[searcyfarms]

so I have a question, my buddy has been having issues with his tractor ( 560 farmall diesel ) getting sludged up with fuel. I noticed when I was pouring the same fuel - from 5 gallon plastic jugs - putting into the old galvanized funnel we all used to use and twist in the spout and just dumped our 5 gallon metal cans into and let them sit this creamy yellow slim/sludge was plogging up that little screen in the bottom of the filter also and I would have to scrape it out when putting it in his White 2-105 - so fast forward a couple months, the neighbor says he have you guys had any troubles with bio diesel - I said heck I don't know if I ever had any in anything - well come to find out, the place we get our fuel ( off road dyed diesel ) had been getting bio diesel they said from a different company - neighbor was having the same issues with his 886 and 1066 and slime/sludge creamy stuff - so is that just a common thing for bio diesel ? is it not supposed to be used for off road/dye? we quit getting it from that station and are now going over to another store with a off road/dyed pump and are not experiencing the sludge/creamy slime - the folks at the old station said they quit buying the bio diesel but gosh after all that fiasco we are a little gun shy - any thoughts?

 

[klancf51]

so I have a question, my buddy has been having issues with his tractor ( 560 farmall diesel ) getting sludged up with fuel. I noticed when I was pouring the same fuel - from 5 gallon plastic jugs - putting into the old galvanized funnel we all used to use and twist in the spout and just dumped our 5 gallon metal cans into and let them sit this creamy yellow slim/sludge was plogging up that little screen in the bottom of the filter also and I would have to scrape it out when putting it in his White 2-105 - so fast forward a couple months, the neighbor says he have you guys had any troubles with bio diesel - I said heck I don't know if I ever had any in anything - well come to find out, the place we get our fuel ( off road dyed diesel ) had been getting bio diesel they said from a different company - neighbor was having the same issues with his 886 and 1066 and slime/sludge creamy stuff - so is that just a common thing for bio diesel ? is it not supposed to be used for off road/dye? we quit getting it from that station and are now going over to another store with a off road/dyed pump and are not experiencing the sludge/creamy slime - the folks at the old station said they quit buying the bio diesel but gosh after all that fiasco we are a little gun shy - any thoughts?

My first thought is that the fuel has a microbial infestation (the common term is "algae", but "microbe" is more accurate). Yes, removing the sulfur from diesel fuel has coincidentally reduced its resistance to microbial growth. The root cause is water in fuel somewhere in the supply chain and the microbes had an opportunity to multiply. It is good practice to abandon a supplier of contaminated fuel. Check out 8 Signs of Diesel Fuel Contamination by Microbes Fungus and Bacteria for tips on identification and remediation. Good luck.

 

[ruffdog]

"creamy yellow slim/sludge"

Good grief....buy your fuel elsewhere. I run all my fuel through a paint filter that in placed in a funnel and if I saw that, I would get my money back and dump the fuel.